The Pan Macedonian Federation of South Australia is looking to keep the legacy of Stelios Kazantzidis alive with a live concert of his songs performed by local artists.

The event is being organised by the Vergina Greek Women’s Cultural Society (VGWCS) of the Federation, and will be held Sunday 2 July, 2 pm, at the Hellenic Macedonian Cultural Centre.

Maria Genimahaliotis, president of the Vergina Greek Women’s Cultural Society, expressed excitement in what is their latest concert highlighting legendary Greek musicians.

“We have done quite a number of concerts and we have commemorated the music of Glykeria, Mitropoulos, Theodorakis,” the VGWCS president told Neos Kosmos.

“We’re trying to maintain the history of the great artists who have come and gone from Greece, trying to revive and commemorate their music to our Greek community and our members.”

The concert will feature the talents of local Adelaide artists Tsambika De George (vocals), Stamatis Dimitrakopoulos (vocals), Mihalis Gribilos (keys and vocals), Chris Panteli (bouzouki), Steve Papadopoulos (guitar) and John Sioutis (drums), who will play many of the iconic Greek singer’s hits.

“Kazantzidis was such a phenomenal musician, very much loved in the Greek community but also in the Pontian community. As such, we’re hoping to have quite a few of our Pontian friends come to the concert.”

“We also hope to get some of our younger members to come along and engage with the music of Kazantzidis. Many of them may not of his music given he passed away some time ago now and unfortunately, you do tend to forget what his music was about.”

The VGWCS president elaborated on the importance and relevance of Kazantzidis’ music to migrants, whose family were refugees from Asia Minor, with his songs covering themes like struggling to live in a foreign land and feeling nostalgia for our πατρίδα.

“Our goal is to bring to mind his music, his legacy and crucially, because we’re living here in Australia as migrants, the themes of his songs which resonate with us so well.”

This event is in line with the women’s organisation’s aim to hold initiatives that support and promote the ideals, culture and traditions of Macedonia not only to the Greek community but also to the wider multicultural society.

In addition to the concert, the Pan Macedonian Federation of South Australia has their annual ‘Fasolada’ lunch planned for Sunday August 6, 12 p.m., again at the Hellenic Macedonian Cultural Centre.

This initiative is being organised by the Brotherhood of Pavlos Melas of the Federation, in what is a simple event designed to give their members and guests a nice day out.

“It’s really a very traditional, very basic and homely soup, though we also have our pites, seafood, and dessert. We have a live band play music and everyone sings along and dances. It’s another event to get the Greek community out of the house and having fun,” said the president of the Brotherhood, Konnie Agalianos, to Neos Kosmos.

The Pavlos Melas president also mentioned some other events the Federation has planned for the year, including the Dimitria Festival scheduled for the weekend of November 18-19, expressing excitement that events can move forward now without fear of disruption due to COVID-19.